How America Rules the World – The Secrets of Neo-Colonialism
© AP Photo / Jonathan Ernst
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Is America an empire? Does the United States practice imperialism and colonialism? These simple questions would yield surprising – and wrong - responses from most people in the world.
The lack of understanding of the true nature of the American Empire is a testimony to the extraordinary sophistication of the empire’s operations and propaganda. Unlike the European empires of the past, the US does not directly rule countries around the world. Instead, the neo-colonialist tentacles take the form of finance, media, technology and so on; and when everything fails, the imperialist military comes knocking on the doors to spread “freedom and democracy.” Let’s take a deep dive into the secrets of the full-spectrum dominance of the largest and smartest empire in human history.
Evolution of Colonialism
When people think of colonialism, they think of one country invading and defeating another country, deposing the leader, installing a leader from the invading nation, and ruthlessly exploiting the new colony. The old form of colonialism was blatant and visible. However, it was also limited in its efficiency, since it required immense resources. For example, to colonize what’s now the Americas, more than 60 million Europeans had to relocate between 1492 to 1930.
Such a brute form of colonialism was not sustainable, so smarter techniques were invented. In India, for example, it took only 100,000 British to rule the colony. By the time the Europeans got to China, they had run out of manpower, and thus had to devise a new strategy of a European coalition controlling just a handful of cities, but ensuring that the Chinese emperor stayed subservient and the entire country could be exploited.
Since the end of WW2, the American Empire has taken over the role of the European empires, and has further transformed the practice of neo-colonialism into a fine art and science. While the foundation of American primacy consists mainly of banking and military, there are many more critical pillars to support this imperial edifice.
In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, smoke rises from the battleship USS Arizona as it sinks during a Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
© AP Photo
Let’s take a look at all the holistic imperialist tools that allow the US to enjoy such an unprecedented full-hegemony around the globe.
Big Picture – The Tools of Modern Imperialism
If you want to control billions of people, you cannot resort to brute violence alone. This sort of control requires mastery of multidimensional skills. Henry Kissinger once said, “Control oil, you control nations; control food, and you control people.” There’s truth to it, but there’s a lot more in this tool kit.
Here are the eight crucial tools of American imperialism:
Money (dollar’s privileged status, central banks, sanctions, Wall Street)
Corporations (to control the economy)
Technology (lifeblood of modern nations)
Media (includes internet, social media, education, think tanks, entertainment etc.)
Military (wars, proxy wars, selling weapons)
Intelligence (spying)
Geopolitics (various strategies including elite capture and divide-and-rule)
Subversions (coups, color revolutions, assassinations etc.)
The US empire offers carrots and sticks. If a country follows all the commands of the US and Western institutions, the country will usually do okay and will be left alone. Of course, at times, it may be called upon to sacrifice itself on behalf of the American empire – for example, Ukrainians are forced to fight Russia.
Money
Let’s start with Money or King Dollar. The fact that the dollar is the dominant global currency – in trade as well as foreign exchange reserves – gives the US enormous power and exorbitant privilege. All the commodities in the world markets are denominated in USD, which means countries need the dollar to trade with one another – this is slowly changing due to dedollarization efforts.
So, how do these countries get hold of US dollars? By selling goods and services to the US. This arrangement gives the US overwhelming advantage in negotiations. For example, India cannot grow without importing oil, gas and many other goods. However, other countries will not usually accept Indian rupees as payment. Thus, India needs to go to the US – figuratively speaking – for billions of dollars every year. Then, the US will say, “Do tech support and write software for American corporations for low wages.”
You can see how this situation can be extrapolated around the world. People in developing nations must sell natural resources, goods, labor and other services at low costs. This exploitation is very similar to European colonialism, except that Americans do not directly rule any country.
And when a country runs out of US dollars, the IMF – which is based out of Washington DC – will come as a savior and lend money. However, the IMF will demand a pound of flesh in the form of privatization “reforms,” which is a euphemism for letting Western corporations buy everything for pennies on the dollar. This shock doctrine has been applied to developing nations all over the world.
Euro and dollar banknotes
© Sputnik / Nina Zotina
The US dollar is also a powerful weapon. Any country, corporation or a person that disobeys the US empire will face sanctions, which will shut them out from the US banking system, and thus much of global trade, payments and investments. On the other side, if the political and business leaders of a foreign country are good puppets, they get to stash millions or billions of dollars in US/UK banks – usually in offshore havens – around the world.
The common person around the world accepts this rigged system and assumes that there must be something special about America and its currency.
Corporations
In some sense, much of the world has “corporatocracy” – rule by corporations. The market capitalization of the top 5 American corporations is $12 trillion. One corporation, BlackRock manages $10 trillion of assets. These are stunning numbers, considering that the GDP of India, Japan and Germany are each less than $4.5 trillion.
The world is corporatized – banks, food supply chain, healthcare, education, utilities such as water and electricity, infrastructure technology, media etc. are all run by giant corporations. (China is an exception where many critical industries are run by state-owned enterprises. Russia also has a similar structure for oil and gas companies. This is one reason why the US hates China and Russia so much). More importantly, all these corporations are deeply interlinked in terms of the largest shareholders and boards of directors. Thus, there is a “swarm effect” and they all work in tandem, similar to how birds of a large flock fly in unison.
Consider the Indian tech startup companies, most of whom have American investors. This is colonialism from afar. Not only does the US get to reap profits from the Indian market and innovators, but is also able to control the future of the Indian economy. How about Indian banks? Looking at HDFC, the largest private bank in India, the two largest shareholders are… Morgan Stanley and Fidelity, both American! But how many Indians know this fact?
Similarly, giant corporations around the world are controlled by American investors. Take Samsung, the giant conglomerate of South Korea. It is controlled by major American shareholders and also infiltrated by US deep state – and this is why the US does not mind that Samsung smartphones are #1 in the world, while the US tried very hard to kill Chinese Huawei.
Technology
Without better technology – guns, ships, steel, industrial revolution etc. – Europeans would have never been able to colonize much of the world. The strategic importance of technology remains true today. Better technology means bigger market share, larger economy, better productivity, and more influence around the world.
Since WW2, the US has dominated technology, mainly because of stolen patents from Germany after the war, and the influx of the smartest minds from a war-devastated Europe. Later, when Japan became too successful, the US waged a geopolitical and economic war, forcing the Japanese to hand over their precious semiconductor technologies to the US.
Since the Great Financial Crisis that was orchestrated by Wall Street, Europe’s economy has stagnated. Taking advantage of this, the US has bought hundreds of extremely successful European startups. Note also how Europe has been left behind in the dust in the digital/internet revolution. There are no European counterparts for Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft etc. Europe has fallen behind in critical technologies such as cloud computing, e-commerce and AI. Of course, Germans are as smart as the Americans, but the US empire cleverly suffocated European tech sovereignty.
The US also greatly influences and controls the science behind modern medicine, which was really distorted and corrupted by the world’s first billionaire – John D. Rockefeller.
Thus, the broad strategy of the US is to never let anyone else have independent or better technology. Again, China is starting to beat the US in technology, patents, scientific papers, and innovation. Hence all the American sanctions and economic/tech wars to contain China.
Media (Mind Control)
By media, I am referring to all the tools involved in shaping people’s opinions – i.e., brainwashing. Yes, the biggest propagandist in the world is the USA. I wrote an entire article on it: Propaganda and Censorship: How America Dominates the Information War.
Edward Bernays is considered the father of modern mass propaganda. He was the nephew of Freud, who developed some quirky theories about individual psychology. Bernays, however, developed accurate theories and practices, which are still used effectively all over the world. Regarding how propaganda works, Bernays wrote:
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.”
The US holds enormous control over information all over the world through mainstream media, social media, internet search engines, fake neutral sites like Wikipedia, apps for mobile phones etc. Even education in schools and universities as well as think tanks around the world are monitored and controlled by the US.
Of course, the US soft power is enormous, thanks to Hollywood, the music industry etc.
This is the main reason why billions of people around the world are clueless about how the American Empire works.
Military
The US empire used to work in traditional ways – waging wars of conquest. That’s how the modern USA was born and then expanded. In the beginning of the 20th century, the US even colonized the Philippines, claiming that the Filipinos were savages, and it was the “white man’s burden” to civilize them.
After WW2, the US was dealt two embarrassing defeats in Korea and Vietnam. After that, the US has resorted to only proxy wars – such as using Afghanistan against the USSR and Ukraine/Europe against Russia – or wars against truly weak countries such as Panama, Libya, and Iraq, which was weakened by a decade of severe sanctions. Using Islamist extremists and terrorists for proxy wars has been a go-to strategy for the US since the 1950s.
However, the US still has 800 military bases and “lily pads” in 140 countries, including all the strategic regions. While the US military is now unable to defeat even the Houthis, the US military played a significant role in its imperialist power for eight decades since WW2.
More consequential are the weapons sales, through which the US gains the trust and alliance of countries around the world. This also creates dependency, since the countries cannot even operate most American weapons - even during a crisis - without the approval of the Pentagon.
A U.S. Navy fighter jet is about to land on the flight deck of USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015
© AP Photo / Marko Drobnjakovic
Intelligence (Spying)
Spying is probably the most underestimated geopolitical tool. If you can listen in on all the phone calls and read all the emails of leaders around the world, you can control the world, since you know all their secrets, skeletons, and plans. Blackmailing is a powerful weapon.
This is why all the US software giants and hardware vendors work closely with the CIA and NSA. Edward Snowden revealed many shocking details, but countries are still putting up with the US empire, since there is no strong alternative yet.
Geopolitics
There are many geopolitical theories and strategies that are employed by the US empire.
First, the classic divide and rule. We can see that in numerous US-engineered conflicts: Europe v. Russia, Iran v. Iraq (1980s), Sunni v. Shiites, India v. Pakistan, and the attempts to turn many Asian countries against China.
The second major strategy involves creating geographical blocks that would impede a country’s trade and military. Examples include the attempt to block Russia’s access to the Black Sea, destabilizing Afghanistan to block China-Iran link, trying regime changes in Iraq and Syria to disrupt the Iran-Iraq-Syria-Lebanon crescent etc.
Subversion and Sabotage
This is another long topic that needs an entire article. The US engages in constant subversion and sabotage in all its rivals and some of its allies, if the latter is becoming too independent or prosperous.
The arrows in this imperialist quiver include coups, assassinations, election interference, false flag attacks, color revolutions, fueling civil wars, and much more.
During the Cold War, the CIA assassinated leaders of other countries in the name of fighting communism. Later, the US shifted to using sleeper cell NGOs to create useful idiots in strategic countries. These NGOs can start massive protests against any leader who is not a puppet of the American empire. Of course, the foolish members of these NGOs believe that they are fighting for “freedom and democracy.”
What the US has been doing to destabilize China for decades is astonishing – for example, supporting separatists in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang. In South Asia, the US has supported Sikh separatists in India, staged a successful color revolution in Sri Lanka in 2022, and the current protests in Bangladesh. In Pakistan, the US simply instructed the military and the parliament to stage a soft coup against Prime Minister Imran Khan, when he displayed too much independence.
In countries all around the world, the US has managed to fund opposition parties if a leader refuses to kowtow to American diktats.
Conclusion
It is a vital imperative for every person to understand how the American empire works not only in his/her country or the region but worldwide. The US empire deploys many of the same playbooks like a scripted Hollywood movie over and over in different countries. However, since people do not follow events around the world, they fall for the same tricks and harm their own countries.
The good news is that the US empire’s tactics are starting to fail. People and nations are waking up and starting to rebel against the empire. This is the story of the emerging multipolar world and multilateral organizations like BRICS. There is hope in the air.
